An epidemiological survey on use and abuse of antianxiety drugs among Beijing residents

Objective, To investigate the current trend of use and abuse of antianxiety drugs in Beijing residents in 4 urban and 2 rural areas. Methods. A cluster sampling household survey of 6567 subjects out of 3000 families was made by 6 local grass roots mental health centers collaboratively. Screened with designed questionnaire, the positive addicted subjects were examined with present state examination (PSE), eysenck personality questionnaire (EPQ) and social disability screening schedule (SDSS) to detect their psychosocial status. Results. Benzodiazepine (BZD) has been widely prescribed and the rate of usage for 1 year is 61.82 parts per thousand, whereas the rate of dependence is 16.29 parts per thousand, constituting 1/4 of long-term users. This study also indicates that Valium is a most preferred drug among all available BZD used by the majority of addicted subjects. Conclusions, It is concluded that the reported dependence is not epidemic but iatrogenic in nature attributable to persistent misuse of BZD. It is stressed that guideline of rational clinical application of BZD should be laid down so as to markedly reduce further possible misuse and abuse of the drugs of this kind.